Roxbury Financial LLC Takes $307,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in MetLife in the third quarter valued at about $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $142,378,000 after buying an additional 762,291 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in MetLife by 256.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,209,000 after acquiring an additional 682,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in MetLife by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $347,735,000 after acquiring an additional 608,224 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.08. 2,818,589 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,652,965. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $83.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.25. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $57.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.58.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.